Ham [Read-Only] Ham Beetles, Cheese Skippers, Ham Mites

11/23/2009

1

Test Tuesday

• Nutrition

• Food Safety

• Retail Marketing

• Food Defense

• Hams

• Sausage

Hams

• An American Icon

• We’ve all had ham in

one way or another

• Tradition

– Christmas Ham

– Easter Ham

• “City” Ham

• Country Ham or Dry-

cured Ham

City Ham

• Wet cured ham

• Pumped with a

“brine”

– Water, salt, sweetener,

phosphate, nitrite,

sodium erythorbate,

spices and seasonings

Ways of brining a ham

• Needle injectors

• Stitch pumps

• Artery injection

• Cover brine

• Goal to distribute brine evenly throughout the ham

• Avoid “Tiger Stripes”; uncured spots

Tumbling Hams

• Tumble or Massaging

• Diffuse brine throughout the ham

• Increase binding– Develops protein exudate to aid binding

• Increase tenderization

11/23/2009

2

Types of Hams• Get what you pay for!!!

• Ham with Natural Juices– 18.5% Protein

– Very little water added

– No more than an 8% gain in weight from green weight

• Ham with Water Added– 17% Protein

– 10% added ingredients

– No more than an 8% gain

• Ham and Water Product– 17% Protein

– Water labeled as % added

Other Types of Ham

• Canned Hams

• Boiled Ham– Boiled in water

• Spiral Sliced Ham

• Semi-boneless Ham– Usually contains femur bone

• Bone-in Ham

• Shank and butt halves

• Boneless Ham

• Pit Ham

Country Ham

• Dry cured ham

• Salt, Sweetener,

Spices, Nitrate (can

make without)

• Box cured = 1”/

week

• Bag cured = 2 d/ lb

• 90 – 100 days to

several months

The Ham Belt

• Regions of the world were dry cured, country-type hams are produced

• Not all dry cured hams are called country hams

• These countries have climates that are optimal for the production of dry cured meats

• Mild winters and springs, hot humid summers

Virginia

North Carolina

West Virginia

Kentucky

Georgia

Tennessee

Missouri

Central and

Southern

Europe

China

11/23/2009

3

Harper’s Country Hams

Meacham’s Country Hams

Fathers Country Hams

Scott’s HamsPenn’s Country Hams

Finchville Farms

UK Meat’s Lab

Miller’s Country HamsBroadbents B & B Foods

Clifty Farms, Scottsville Plant

Kentucky

Country Ham

Producers

Colonel Newsome

National Numbers

• Over 35 Country Ham Curers nationally

• Cure 5 – 10% of the ham supply

• Top Ham Producers

1.) Smithfield Hams, North Carolina

2.) Burgers’ Ozark Country Cured

Hams, INC, Missouri

3.) Clifty Farms, Tennessee and

Kentucky

Germany

• Westphalian Ham and Black Forest Ham

• Westphalian ham are from pigs fed acorns from the Westphalian Forest– Smoked over Beech wood and Juniper Branches

– Combination of dry and immersion curing

– Aged for a month

• Black Forest are dipped in beef blood to produce the characteristic black surface

Italy• Prosciutto (aka Parma Hams)

• Two Main Types:– Prosciutto de Parma

– Prosciutto de San Danielle

• Yorkshire pigs fed grain, parsnips and whey from parmesan cheese

• Aitch bone removed

• Flattened to ~2”

• Aged for a year or more

• Culatello Ham – Expensive and difficult to find in US

– Butt portion cured with salt, pepper, garlic, and dry wine

11/23/2009

4

Spain• Jamon Iberico Ham

– Most expensive ham

– Not imported into US, but

have been cleared for

import in 2008

– Black pigs are fed acorns

– 24+ months old

• Jamon Serrano (mountain

ham)

– 18+ months old

– White pigs fed acorns

– Can be purchased in the

US

China

• Jinhua Ham

– Named for the city its

made in

– Making hams for over

900 years

– Aged over 9 months

– Sun Dried

• Yunnan Ham

– Far western corner of

China

– Very rare

France

• Bayonne Ham

• Wine cured

• Slightly smoked and

air-dried

• Covered with pork

fat and flour

(Pannage)

• 9 to 10 months old

England

• York Ham

• True York Hams

are cured within

2 miles of York

England

• Smoked over oak

chips

• Large White Pigs

How do I make a Country Ham?

• Performed during the Winter months

(December and January)

• Coolers

• Salt and sugar will penetrate the ham

• Other seasoning (black & red pepper)

typically do not penetrate the ham

Curing

• Important to get enough cure in the hock and around the aitch bone

• Bone sour is one of the most common problems

• Allow enough time for the cure to penetrate the ham

• Most moisture loss

• After curing hams are sometimes washed, before salt equalization

11/23/2009

5

Salt Equalization

• Usually 10 - 20° F

warmer than curing

temperature

• Spring time

temperatures

• 2 to 3 weeks

• Allow the salt to

equilibrate

throughout the ham

Smoking Hams

• Smoking occurs after salt equalization

• Cold Smoke– 12 hours to 7 days

• Cannot let the temperature get above 90° F– Kill the enzymes responsible for flavor and aroma

Aging

• aka “Summer Sweat”

• Develop flavor and

aroma

• Proteolysis and

lipolysis of the protein

and fat contribute to the

flavor and aroma

• 50 to 60% Relative

Humidity

The Law

• To be labeled a

Country Ham

• Must have lost 18%

of its green weight

• Contain at least 4%

salt

Problems that occur

• Mold Growth

– Common

– Penicillium

• Insect damage

– Larder Beetles, Red-

legged Ham Beetles,

Cheese Skippers, Ham

Mites

• Avoid PSE and DFD

hams

• White specks – tyrosine

11/23/2009

6

Question

•Why is a country ham shelf

stable?

Hurdle Technology

• A way of using several, effective preservation technologies to create safe, well preserved foods

• Add Salt– Effective bacteriostat and aids in water removal

• pH – Cannot get it low enough to create shelf stability

• Not vacuum packaged

• Water Activity (Aw)– Need to reduce the Aw enough to create shelf stability

– Below 0.90

Industry Averages

• Average

– Aw = 0.88

• Range 0.74 –

0.93

– Salt content =

6.5%

• Range 4 – 9.7%

– ph = 6.1